iPhone 5 gives existing apps black borders – for now

The iPhone 5 was announced just minutes ago and we’re getting to see how applications will look on the new, bigger display. Until updated for the new resolution, existing iOS applications will be centered with black borders surrounding them. This shouldn’t disrupt the overall feel of the application, but we’re sure developers will be hard at work to update applications as soon as possible.

When the iPad was introduced, existing applications that weren’t optimized for the larger screen could be scale-able, but that doesn’t seem to be an option with the iPhone 5. For the most part, the display is taller, so there’s likely no elegant way to make these applications scale well without sacrificing content on the screen. That said, whenever these applications are updated they will get a roomier layout, and we’ll even see an extra line of applications on the iPhone’s home screen.

The new 16:9 aspect ratio will make for a better movie viewing experience on the device, even if the screen still seems a bit small by today’s standards. Still, a 4 inch screen still fits in the hand perfectly, and we have our doubts we’ll be seeing any complaints.

Take a look at a few pictures of the way applications will scale below!